Neil Buttery

Knead to Know

In Knead to Know: A History of Baking, food historian and chef Neil Buttery takes the reader on a journey exploring the creation, evolution and cultural importance of some of our most beloved baked foods, whether they be fit for a monarch's table, or served from the bakestone of a lowly farm labourer. This book charts innovations, happy accidents and some of the most downright bizarre baked foods ever created. Everything has a history, but food history is special because it tells us so much about our culture and society, from the role of bread in the birth of human civilisation to the invention of the wedding cake, the creation of the whisk, or the purpose of the fish heads in a star-gazy pie. Food history encompasses it all. When we think of the evolution of something, we think every step is an improvement, an incremental elevation toward some peak of perfection. This is not always the case. Sometimes things have to become simpler, knowledge is lost and skills are forgotten. As a baker of historical foods, Neil Buttery demonstrates that forgotten recipes and traditional techniques are often worth trying out (and mentions a few that should perhaps be left in the past). The reader will be inspired by the characters, creations and inventions of the past to be better and more adventurous bakers.